SingTel fourth quarter net profit up 3.5 percent

Singapore Telecom today said its fourth quarter net profit rose 3.5 percent from the previous year, boosted by strong performances in the home market and its regional mobile associates.
Net profit totalled Sg dollar 898 in the three months to March, but the earnings were pared back by a strong Singapore dollar, the company said in a statement.
"Earnings growth was driven by robust operating performance from the Singapore consumer business and the regional mobile associates, led by Airtel," it said, referring to SingTel's mobile associate in India.
SingTel earnings, however, are reported in the local currency and the strength of the Singapore dollar against the currencies of its regional associates ate into profits.

The Australian dollar, Indonesian rupiah and the Indian rupee weakened between 11 percent and 20 percent against the Singapore currency during the quarter.
SingTel's share of its regional associates' pre-tax earnings climbed 8.5 percent to Sg dollar 558 million.

Fourth quarter revenue was down 7.9 percent to Sg dollar 4.13 billion "as the business environment remained cautious and pricing competition was keen," the firm said.
For the full year to March, net profit jumped 4.1 percent to Sg dollar 3.65 billion. Group revenue however dipped 7.3 percent to Sg dollar 16.85 billion.
The company said it has a "free cash flow" of Sg dollar 3.4 billion and will allocate Sg dollar 2.0 billion for digital investments until the 2016 financial year as opportunities arise.

"The mobile Internet is growing, fuelled by increasing smartphone penetration and better networks," said SingTel's group chief executive Chua Sock Koong.
SingTel's "combined footprint provides a great platform for our digital services to take off and gain scale," she added.
SingTel owns partial stakes in India's Bharti Airtel, Indonesia's Telkomsel, Thailand's Advanced Info Service, the Philippines' Globe Telecom and Pacific Bangladesh Telecom.
It fully owns SingTel Optus in Australia.
The SingTel group's mobile customer base totalled 514 million as at end March, up 10 percent from a year ago.